Given the recent press of how civil forfeiture laws have been / are being abused by police departments in this country [1], the idea that the Obama Admninistration would try to float such an idea, much less try to get it passed into legislation is mind boggling. Just shows just how out of touch they really are.
The Obama Administration has already ramped up CFAA prosecutions. Adding Civil Forfeiture laws would only further incentivize law enforcement to pursue these cases.
a good reflective "think" piece on how centralized systems are being undermined by innovation. it's amazing just how many potentially disruptive technologies have be introduced or come into mainstream thinking in just the past year alone.
also it is worth checking out the original article first, published a little over a year ago [1].
awareness is good. but what i want to know is how do we start defending ourselves against excessive, and unjustified, surveillance. what countermeasures are we supposed to take/adopt? or is it too late already? sure hope not.
the use of archetypes in systems thinking is very powerful. they let you quickly recognize the source of a problem. glad to see this field of expertise is migrating to software acquisition.
btw, a visual representation of the diagrams can be found here:
those of us who are part of the silent majority, witnessing the dismantling of our democratic institutions, all in the name of combatting terrorism, fighting the drug wars, and eradicating the 'isms... are going to have to start getting off our collective a$$es and speak out against these injustices; otherwise we're going to wake up one day and realize there is no one left to speak or act for us. when i read something like the salon article -- and there are too many reports like this, to write them off as aberations -- i am reminded of the niemöller quotation:
"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -- Because I was not a Socialist.
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Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me." [1]
sam, what a great put down. in fact, the detail in your line-by-line critique approaches overkill.
even more amusing, depending on your point of view, is how matthew driver makes the anonymity afforded by cash seem like a dirty word (3:29). however. what really me got rolling on the floor with laughter is the fact that driver neglects to mention interest rates, late fees, and remittance costs associated with using mastercard products and services.
in comparison, check out this video link i posted a couple of days ago:
you think the snowden revelations can't get any worse... and then you read something like this.
if i was one of the inboxes being monitored, not only would i feel compromised/violated; i would be very pissed off. mad in fact, ready to do battle...
i feel sorry for the "spooks" of the world. their days are numbered. we're coming to getcha.
1. http://www.cato.org/events/policing-profit-abuse-civil-asset...